


predawn

by sasakiarisu



Category: Slam Dunk
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Out of Character, kinda OOC, kinda shippy? if you squint, lol it's morning haha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:28:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23651599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasakiarisu/pseuds/sasakiarisu
Summary: Mitsui appears at Kogure's doorstep at one in the morning, and the bespectacled boy finds out why.
Relationships: Kogure Kiminobu/Mitsui Hisashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	predawn

Kogure was surprised when he saw Mitsui Hisashi at his doorstep.

He had been studying for an exam when he heard knocks coming from the door. It was already turning one in the morning, and the streets have been quiet for a while now. So when he saw Mitsui standing in front of him, clad in a hoodie and pants, looking all tired as if he hasn’t got any wink of sleep these past few days, it really surprised him. It was not an unusual thing for the guy to visit him since they are friends, but to see him at this ungodly hour? There was this rare smile on the other male’s lips and Kogure couldn’t point out what kind of smile it is. He lets Mitsui come inside his apartment, wondering what’s going on with him.

“Come on in,” he says, and the slightly taller teen keeps the odd smile on his face.

The guy glances at his apartment, like it was his first time coming there. However, astonishment was nowhere seen on his face. The bespectacled guy can not fathom the expression he’s seeing on his basketball teammate. He’s been watching him ever since he came inside his little home, but unlike of what he’s used seeing, there is something different on his friend right now. Silence remains for a longer while, until he decided to break it.

“Do you want something to eat?” he asks, just to break the deafening quietude between the two of them. He never felt this awkward before, at least not around Mitsui.

The dark-haired male shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

He then goes straight to asking what he really wanted to ask that moment. “Why did you come here?”

No answer.

Mitsui just looks at him, still keeping silent, not answering the question. Then he smiles, the same smile he had from before, before averting his gaze away from him. Kogure worriedly looked at him, sensing that whatever it is that is keeping the other from speaking so much like he did normally, it’s something serious. The guy looked lost and worn-out－the look he couldn’t define earlier－and it was the first time he ever saw him like this. It was far from the look he had when they played against Shoyo. Or Ryonan. Or Sannoh. This was a different kind of tired－the kind that stems from deep inside. So he sits beside him, his books and notes neglected, and waits for the other to finally speak.

Tick-tock. He can hear the clock moving its hand.

“I don’t know why I’m here, honestly,” were the words that left Hisashi’s lips after a long while of silence. Kogure listens to him intently. “I have no idea why I came here. I guess I just really wanted to see you.”

He fights the urge to blush brightly.

He stares at the other boy for a while until Mitsui snaps him out of his thoughts with his question. “Are you busy? Did I disturb you?”

“A-Ah,” he remembers his exam for tomorrow, but decides that the guy in front of him is a much more important matter right now. “N-No. I just finished everything before you came.”

His teammate gazes at him, a small smile found on his lips. Kogure couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but that smile that he saw for the first time on the other’s lips held so many meanings. It made him feel even more anxious about his friend and wonder what could be going on inside his head even more. This was not the Mitsui Hisashi he knew for years. This was a Mitsui Hisashi he only met for the first time. And the bespectacled boy wonders how drastic can the difference between the two be.

As he was about to ask the question he was itching to ask earlier, he hears his name slipping out of his best friend’s lips. “Kogure.”

“Y-Yeah?”

Hisashi keeps the words to himself for a while, as Kiminobu’s heart ponded loudly against his chest. The other guy diverts his eyes away from him and takes a deep breath.

The glasses-wearing boy felt like his heart was about to explode any minute now.

The scarred shooting guard heaves out a sigh as he starts talking once again. “I… I’m just wondering. Have you forgiven me already?”

He was taken aback by the question. “W-What?”

The same weary smile finds its way on the dark-haired teen’s lips as he briefly glances at him before looking at the ground. Kogure’s eyes follow him, trying to search for something to answer the questions he had in his mind the moment Mitsui stepped inside his home, but all he can see was those lackluster eyes and the same tired expression that stirred worry and confusion in him. What was it that Mitsui is going through that caused him to appear at his doorstep at one in the morning? What was it that seemingly changed the guy he knew for how many years?

He wanted to know. He _needed_ to know.

“I just wonder at times,” the guys pauses for a while, as if finding the right words to say. “If you have forgiven me already. If the guys from the team have finally accepted me. If Anzai-sensei is no longer disappointed in me,” then he smiles, and Kogure finally realizes that it was loneliness and regrets that he’s seeing on the other boy. _Feelings that shouldn’t be there anymore._ “I feel like I still haven’t redeemed myself even until now. That maybe, no matter how I try to, I won’t be able to do so. Sometimes I wonder, if behind that kindness you’re showing me, you still feel anger and resentment towards me. Though I try shrugging these thoughts off, to forget about them, sometimes they’re just there again,” Mitsui then glances at him, slightly smirking, but the bespectacled lad see no pride in that. “Heh, I sound pathetic, don’t I?”

Kogure didn’t know what to say. He had no idea that something like that was going through inside his best friend’s mind. The dark-haired male always appeared and acted as if things are going just fine and smooth, acted pretty chill around their teammates. It didn’t cross his mind that whenever he does, there are actually doubts. Anxiety. Mitsui never showed them at all; or maybe, there are hints, but Kogure was overwhelmed by the happiness he felt when the guy decided to come back to the basketball team.

He was never mad at him, in reality.

He observes his visitor. Hisashi stares at a far-off space, mind seemingly disturbed by the many thoughts running in his head right now. He still had that odd wretched smile on his lips, and Kiminobu can feel his own heart breaking at the sight. If he just knew that the ex-gangster felt this way, then maybe he could’ve treated him differently－even better than he did. If he just knew, then maybe he could’ve done something for the other guy.

He couldn’t help but to tear up when Mitsui looked at his way.

“Hey,” the young man was surprised to see him tearing up, and it floors him even more when the bespectacled boy embraced him. “Are you just fine? Wh-Why are you crying?”

“I’m－I’m really sorry,” he mutters out on his shoulder, hugging the man even tighter. “I-I could’ve done something to help you. I’m sorry you had to feel that way. I was n-never mad at you, Mitsui. And when you decided to come back to the team, that was the happiest moment in my life,” he then disentangles himself from him after a while and removes his eyeglasses to wipe his tears away. “I’ve forgiven you a long time ago. Our teammates are so glad to have you in our team, and Anzai-sensei is definitely proud of you. Remember that match with Sannoh? So please, whenever those thoughts cross your mind, just remember all the things we have shared with the whole team. You’re important to us, Mitsui. You’re someone we can’t afford to be without.”

For a moment, silence ensues. No one speaks up between the two of them, but Mitsui’s eyes are directed at him. Kogure hopes that his companion understood what he wanted to say, so that he can finally feel better about himself. He wants Mitsui to realize that for him, as well as for the rest of the team, he has done so much to redeem himself already. He wants him to realize that for him, and for the whole Shohoku basketball team, he’s become someone they wouldn’t want to lose.

The dark-haired male smiled. A small one, but still a smile.

“Thank you, Kogure,” he mumbles out after a while, smiling a little bit wider. “Thanks for hearing me out. It’s a lot for me. You don’t know how much you made me feel better.”

He returned the smile back, rubbing his eyes and putting back his eyeglasses. “No worries. I’m glad I could help. I-I’m sorry if I cried on your shoulders, though,” he can feel warmth rising on his cheeks at the memory. Kogure sees Mitsui grin a little at that, so he growls at him. “Please don’t grin like that. I feel so embarrassed.”

“Heh, it’s a little cute and funny.”

“Oh please. Shut up.”

And soon enough, everything seems back to normal. His notes and exam forgotten, the next few hours were spent with Mitsui teasing him and the both of them laughing at things. Kogure was glad that things are alright now. He definitely likes seeing his best friend with his smirk rather than with the sullen smile he had earlier. And if he ever comes back to him in the same state again, he will be all ears and help him feel a little better.

“Do you wanna stay the morning here?” he asks after noticing that it’s already turning three in the morning. “I can get the futons ready if you want.”

“If it’s fine, why not?”

“It’s fine,” he replies with a smile, as he turns around to get the sheets ready. “I’ll just go prepare some extra futons.”

“Hey, Kogure,” Mitsui calls him out, as he glances back at him.

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

He smiles softly at the guy. “You’re welcome.”

****-owari-** **

**Author's Note:**

> my second work for this ship, lol. so first of all, thank you for reading this. i really appreciate it a lot. second, i would like to apologize for the ooc-ness of the characters, and if the writing style has errors in it. i'll do my best to improve in my next stories. lastly, i hope you all are safe there. please stay safe and healthy, guys...
> 
> love y'all and have a nice day!


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